Friday, March 16, 2012

ARCHBISHOP ROWAN WILL RESIGN AT THE END OF 2012

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has today revealed that he is to step down from his role at the end of the year.

His decision comes after 10 years in the post and after accepting the position of Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.....

The Archbishop is the Focus of Unity for the Anglican Communion. He is
convener and host of the Lambeth Conference, President of the Anglican
Consultative Council (ACC), and Chair of the Primates' meeting.

Hmm. I thought our focus of unity was Jesus Christ.Archbishop Rowan has not been a focus of any sort of unity for me for a very long time.

Dr John Sentamu: "The last decade has been a challenging time for the Church of England
and the Anglican Communion. Thankfully, Archbishop Rowan is a remarkable
and gifted leader who has strengthened the bonds of affection."

It is interesting to speculate what effect the resignation of the
Archbishop of Canterbury is likely to have on the outcome. On the one
hand, people might feel that they owe him a ‘yes’ vote as evidence of
their loyalty. On the other hand, they may feel that if he is not to
remain in office during the period when it will need to be implemented,
it is not necessary to follow his lead and they will be free to vote
according to their own views.

Five diocesan synods in the Church of England will meet tomorrow and vote on the adoption of the Anglican Covenant. Pray for wisdom for the members as they cast their votes.
Chester
Ely
Liverpool
Norwich
St Albans

I shall listen carefully to the debate in our diocese. I can only vote
for the covenant if those who support it can produce something very much
better than tendentious waffle spiced by emotional blackmail to explain
it.

The
row that produced this document has, mercifully, moved on fundamentally
from the night of the long knives to the night of the long trousers. I
don’t want to go back to where we were on the gay issue, and I don’t
want to have a two-speed Church, and I don’t want to add to the burdens
on colleagues abroad, and I don’t want to collude with childish attempts
to punish the Americans for being children of the Enlightenment, if
such they are. Neither do I think a healthy family should roll over in a
supine way and pretend to believe in something it doesn’t just because
Daddy will be upset if it doesn’t.

The whole thing is foolish, and founded on a damaging control fantasy. Best give it a decent Christian burial and move on.

He certainly won't be surrounded by a coterie of ecclesial bureaucrats, intent on keeping him protected from hoi polloi.

And the faculty won't feel any need to bow down to him either. Academia makes church politics look like a Sunday picnic.

I could almost feel sorry for him--if he hadn't been such an absolute disaster for the church and deadly to others. Every time I think of him, I get pictures in my head of Jeffrey John and David Kato....

Rowan's treatment of his good friend dashed my hopes for him to be an asset to the Anglican Communion and the Church of England. He never recovered from the misstep, which seemed to make further missteps down the road easier.

Well, at the M, he will be accountable to others, not others to him. Think of Mary Stewart going from Queen to subject. Not a pretty picture and it won't be for Rowan either. I do not feel sorry for him. He created the monster that ate him for luncheon.

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BLOGGERS' PRAYER

"Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord."Book of Common Prayer

GOD'S PRESENCE

"O my God, since Thou art with me, and I must now, in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech Thee to grant me the grace to continue in Thy presence; and to this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections."Brother Lawrence

LADY ENTHRONED

Luiz Coelho, Jr.

“Let those who have a voice, speak out for the voiceless.”Óscar Romero

"How can you initiate someone and then treat them like a half-assed baptized?"The Rt Rev Barbara Harris

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THE AFTERLIFE

“So, is there an afterlife, and if so, what will it be like? I don't have a clue. But I am confident that the one who has buoyed us up in life will also buoy us up through death. We die into God. What more that means, I do not know. But that is all I need to know.” Marcus Borg - Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power

"Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì."

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On occasion, Wounded Bird, indulges in irony.

"I hope that I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can."Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen